As The World Dies Trilogy Box Set [Books 1-3]

by Frater, Rhiannon

  “What’s wrong?”

  Jenni shrugged and used her spoon to poke apart the bits of beef in her stew.

  “Jenni?”

  “It’s just not fair, you know? It’s not fair that this thing splits up families. It’s not fair that my kids are dead. It’s not fair that your wife is dead. Why can’t families survive together? Why is that so fucking hard?” Jenni shoved a spoonful of stew in her mouth and chewed furiously.

  Katie blinked, then slid her hand over to gently pat Jenni’s free hand, which rested on the table in a tight fist. “What happened?”

  Jenni spooned more food into her mouth and shrugged again. Her eyes were angry and not focused on anything or anyone in particular.

  Katie looked toward the entrance to the dining room and saw Peggy talking to a distraught-looking man who had his arms draped across the shoulders of a teenage girl and a young boy.

  “You rescued a family,” Katie said, understanding filling her eyes.

  “Half a family. The mom and the little girl were nearly zombies when we got there.” Jenni stabbed a potato with her spoon until it was mush. “They were bit two days ago. If we hadn’t gotten there in time, the whole family would be dead by now.”

  “But you did save some of them, and that is something good,” Katie said softly.

  “Is it? Really?” Jenni covered her face with one hand. “Katie, the only thing I even feel a little good about is that I killed the mother and kid so they aren’t out there running around. How fucked up is that?”

  “Honestly, I understand. I wish … I wish I had had the strength to kill the thing that was Lydia so she wouldn’t be out there right now. I wish it with all my heart. So be glad you gave that family at least that much,” Katie responded in a low, tortured voice.

  Jenni lowered her head. “I wish we had put Mikey and Benji to rest. Lloyd … fuck him … but the kids…” She sighed wearily.

  Katie ran her fingertips over her brow, then leaned forward to look at Jenni straight on. “Jenni. It’s ripping me apart knowing that Lydia is out there. Lately, it’s almost unbearable.”

  “I’m sorry, Katie. I didn’t realize.”

  Katie leaned her chin on one hand. “Promise me, if I am ever bitten, that you will give me an out.”

  Jenni nodded vehemently. “I will. I promise. And you will do the same for me.”

  Katie held Jenni’s slim hand in hers, smiling sorrowfully. “Strange, isn’t it? The vow to kill each other has suddenly become sacred.”

  “I’m telling you it’s a fucked-up world!” Jenni crammed more food into her mouth.

  Katie let go of Jenni’s hand slowly. Her gaze traveled to Travis, who finally had grabbed a plate and was sitting across the room eating with Mike and Juan. “Yeah, it is.”

  After finishing, Katie got to her feet and carried her plate and glass over to the big plastic bins set up for the dirty dishes. It was looking pretty messy tonight, and she was glad her kitchen detail had been the night before, when they had just served sandwiches and chips.

  Moving down the hallway, she sought out the former record room, where all the library books had been set up. As she suspected, Jason was seated at the table, his food congealing beside him, Jack dozing at his feet, as he flipped through a book on chemical warfare.

  She was relieved to see that he was alone except for the dog.

  Sliding into the chair across from the boy, she rested her elbows on the table and regarded him thoughtfully. “Jason?”

  “Yeah?” He didn’t even look up.

  “I have a favor to ask,” Katie informed him.

  “Yeah?” He looked up, obviously trying to shift gears in his head. “Huh?”

  “Remember our talk a while back about my sexuality?”

  “Yeah?”

  “You didn’t tell anyone, did you?”

  Jason kind of smiled. “No. I let them all think you and my mom are doing it. Keeps the guys away from both of you.”

  “Oh?” Katie thought about that, then laughed. “Okay.”

  “Yeah.” He shrugged. “It works out better that way. I thought for a while Juan was gonna try to hook up with Mom, but he’s all about Belinda.”

  “Yeah, he seems to be,” Katie agreed. “But anyway, I don’t want you to tell anyone I’m bi, okay?”

  “Why?”

  “Well, for the reason you stated. I don’t really want to deal with guys hitting on me.”

  Jason blinked, thinking, then blinked again. “Um, okay, but … wait…” He frowned a little. “Why is this important all of a sudden?”

  Katie hesitated, then said, “A guy likes me and I don’t want him to get his hopes up.”

  “Because you’re not over Lydia?”

  “That’s one of the reasons.”

  “Is this about Travis?” Jason’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. “You’re not clearing the way for my mom, are you?”

  Katie flinched. “Sort of.”

  Jason frowned even more and sat back in his chair.

  “Jason, your mom likes him and he’s such a great guy—”

  “Then you go for it! You like guys!”

  Katie shushed him, making a face. “I don’t want to. I can’t. Lydia—”

  “Lydia is dead.”

  Katie felt her jaw set with anger, but reminded herself sternly that she was dealing with a teenage boy. “Yes, she is. But I am nowhere near being ready to be with anyone else, male or female.”

  Jason looked at her angrily. “So why is my mom ready? Why is she ready, Katie?”

  Looking down, she sighed. “Because, by the time it all went to hell, your mom already wanted to move on. You know what your dad did. She wanted to be free.”

  Jason furiously wiped a tear away. “I know. But why does she want to move on from my brothers? Why isn’t it good enough to be my mom?”

  Startled by his outburst, she thoughtfully considered her words before answering. “She wants to be your mom, Jason. You mean the world to her. But she has a right to find happiness beyond that one role. The way you find happiness beyond just being her son.”

  Jason scowled even more. “Yeah, but…”

  Katie lifted an eyebrow.

  “I’m not replacing anyone.”

  “Neither is she, Jason. Who did she replace with me?”

  Jason lowered his head and then slowly looked up at her. “No one.” He sighed. “Okay, fine. I won’t tell Travis or anyone else that you like guys, too.” He did his best pouty teenager look. “I wasn’t going to, anyway.”

  Katie smiled at him softly. “Thank you.”

  “Yeah … yeah…,” Jason said moodily.

  She went in search of Travis.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  1.

  When Truths Are Revealed, No One Is Safe

  The low hum of the gate opening was joined in harmony by a steady squeal. Huge lights had been rigged up over the new area of the fort, and a team was diligently working into the night on resolving the issues with the gate. The new area was still cut off from the rest of the fort and accessible only by long ladders and a single small platform that bridged the two walls.

  As Katie walked across the site, she could hear Juan’s voice rising over the din. She knew he was working long hours to get the first gate working properly before the second gate went up. It was dangerous work, and stress levels were high. Occasionally, a zombie would try to attack the construction workers. The sharp-eyed former hunters on sentry duty would take them down.

  Travis was on watch at the far side of the fort, far away from the construction of the gate in the corner where the wall met the old hotel He was gazing out at the now empty main street, where so many zombies had met brutal deaths in the town’s first real victory against the undead. Since that first big battle with the zombie horde, the main street had been eerily empty. The moans were fast becoming a distant memory, and a thick layer of dirt covered the smell of death and decay. As spring took a firmer hold, grass and wildflowers had taken root, and
Katie suspected the street would soon look like a little field in the country.

  But the terror of that crowd of zombies moaning and screeching in their desperation to reach the living had burned deeply into the psyche of those who had been in the fort since the beginning. It had been decided that they had to keep the zombies from gathering in a horde outside the wall again. Many suggestions had been made on how to keep this from happening, but after the almost-disaster of the mass slaughter when the zombies breached the perimeter, every idea was being heavily scrutinized.

  Katie strode up the stairs to Travis’s side, and he glanced her way.

  Spring was in the air, and in Texas, that meant cold nights and warm days. Katie was wearing the reverend’s jacket tonight. Its fragrant tobacco smell and comforting warmth were a gentle reminder of the man who had died for her.

  The sheer luck of the draw that enabled so many in the fort to survive that first hellish day still wore on Katie. Her fingers lightly traced over the now dead cell phone in her pocket. It was difficult to let go of her last connection with Lydia, even if she couldn’t see her lovely picture anymore. Call it survivor’s guilt, but it was not easy to deal with. She knew that Travis was dealing with it as well. Maybe all the survivors suffered from it. At times, it was hard to talk of their life before the zombocalypse and the people they had lost. At other times, there was relief in their conversations as they spoke of their future plans. It was like being caught between heaven and hell: both happy and sad to be alive.

  “I think I saw a few flashes down the side road,” Travis said after a beat. “They looked almost like headlights.”

  “Think other survivors are coming this way?”

  “Maybe. Though at times, I’m afraid those things have learned to drive. Or remembered how to,” Travis answered, his brow furrowing.

  Katie shivered at the thought. “Well, since that time when Laura’s remains tried to open that truck door, we haven’t seen any more of them appearing to exhibit any signs of actual deductive reasoning.”

  “Yeah, I know. I keep hoping that what she did was due to some sort of memory, not any real thought process.” Travis continued to stare down the street intently. “The last thing we need is thinking zombies.”

  Katie leaned against the railing, rubbing her hands together. She and Travis were ill at ease with each other, which was not the norm for them.

  “About earlier,” Katie started.

  Travis sighed but didn’t look at her. He double-checked the spotlight—presently turned off—to make sure it was properly hooked up. “Probably just my imagination. It probably wasn’t headlights.”

  Katie rested her hand on his shoulder. “No, not about that.”

  Travis straightened and looked down at her. “It’s okay. I shouldn’t have tried to say anything. I realized that during supper.”

  “No, no, it’s okay. I’m partially to blame. I was pushy about it and then chickened out.”

  Travis gave her a sheepish look. “I’ve been kinda obvious, huh?”

  Katie smiled warmly. “Yeah, kinda.”

  Travis flushed and shook his head. “Juan says I’m a sucker for the unattainable girl.”

  Katie laughed. “Yeah, me, too. For a long time. Then I found Lydia.”

  Travis sighed. “You’re so lucky to have had her. My ex-fiancée and I never had what you did. I was always trying to please her and make her happy and in the end, I guess I failed. I’m not good at this whole girl thing.”

  “Travis…”

  “I know, I know, Katie. I know how this goes down. Yeah, I’ve tried to pretend, but I knew even during moments of hope it was not going to happen.” Travis looked down at the rifle in his hands, then at the street. “You’ve been one of the few good things in this new world. Everything has changed and gone to hell, but you help make it tolerable.”

  She couldn’t help but smile at his words, and she hugged him gently. “You and Jenni and Jason are very special to me. My new family. I want you to understand that.”

  Travis looked down into her eyes, sad and resigned. “But?”

  Katie rested her hand on his cheek and found the words harder to say than she had imagined. She opened her mouth to speak, reconsidered, and closed it. What was there to say? Instead, she kissed his cheek softly. It was rough and slightly scraggly against her lips. He clung to her, and in that comforting moment between them, the world felt far away.

  Travis shifted slightly and pressed a quick kiss to her lips. “Friends?”

  Katie nodded mutely.

  Travis nodded as well, then kissed her lightly again. Forgetting all her reservations, Katie kissed him back, softly and sweetly. The kiss turned into something neither of them had expected, and energy pulsated between them. Wrapped in each other’s embrace, their kiss became real and intense.

  Sharply, overwhelmingly, Lydia filled Katie’s mind. Images of her lovely face, sweet kisses, gentle hugs … and then her screaming, reanimated corpse.

  Pulling away abruptly but reluctantly, Katie said in a quivering voice, “I can’t.”

  “I know,” Travis said with a sigh. “I know.”

  “Jenni adores you,” Katie began lamely.

  “Let’s not go there,” Travis answered almost bitterly.

  “Okay,” she said, helpless. She wanted to comfort him, but the energy of their kiss still tingled over her skin, and she couldn’t risk it. She had to stay true to Lydia. To what they had shared. She had to mourn her and remember her. How could she let herself care for someone else when Lydia was still out there?

  “I’m sorry, Katie. I really am. But you can’t just deflect my emotions onto Jenni. Don’t get me wrong. She’s gorgeous and makes me laugh. I really like her a lot, but please, just don’t do that.”

  A bright light suddenly blinded them both. The roar of an engine broke through the sounds of the construction at the other end of the fort.

  “What the hell?”

  “It’s a motorbike!” Travis flipped on the searchlight and aimed it down the main street.

  An old, battered motorbike wobbled into the light. A scraggly-looking young man and his equally scruffy girlfriend looked up at them with desperate, terrified expressions.

  “Let us in! They’re right behind us!”

  Travis flashed the light up the road to reveal a crowd of zombies running toward the fort, obviously following the motorbike. Katie saw that a few wore doctors’ coats or nurses’ uniforms.

  “The clinic. They went to the clinic!” she exclaimed in disbelief. “How could they be so stupid?”

  “Shit!”

  “Let us in!” The boy yelled loudly, stirring up the pursuing zombies even more.

  “There’s a gate around the corner, but it’s not working right. I need you to swing back around two blocks west and lead the zombies away, then head for the gate when you’ve lost them,” Travis ordered.

  “Fuck that, man. I’m almost out of gas! I’m heading for the gate!” the kid answered, and gunned the engine.

  “That moron! He’ll lead them straight in!” Katie declared angrily.

  “Shit! Shit!” Travis grabbed the walkie-talkie. “Juan! Close the gate! Close the gate!”

  There was a cackling noise, then, “We’re working on it, dude. Chill out.”

  “Zombies coming, Juan!”

  “What? Shit? From where?” Juan’s voice demanded over the static.

  “The clinic. There is a kid on a motorbike heading around the block to get into the gate.”

  “Gawddammit!” From the sound of his voice, it was obvious that Juan was terrified.

  Katie headed down the stairs, running as fast as she could. Even from across the great distance between Travis’s post and the new entrance, Katie could hear Juan shouting, “Shut the gate! Shut the gate!”

  Travis caught up with Katie, and they both sprinted to the far side of the construction site. More people came running, carrying guns and spears. The squeal of the gears as the gate started to close
filled the night air. Some of the construction workers clambered up the ladders out of the new area to safety. Travis and Katie scrambled to the sentry platform overlooking the gate.

  “What’s going on?” Jenni caught up to them at the platform and looked down the road.

  The guard at this post had aimed his spotlight down the road already, illuminating the two teenagers on the sputtering motorbike. It was near to stalling. The zombies trailed close behind. The bike was dangerously weaving from side to side, zombies snatching at the girl holding tight to the driver.

  “That idiot’s leading them right toward the gate,” Travis growled.

  Katie saw the gate was still closing. Juan and two other men were trying to oil the gears.

  “We didn’t have enough fucking time,!” Juan shouted. “Not enough fucking time!”

  More of the construction workers made it over into the fort, breathing heavily, terrified.

  The loud screeching of the gate ripped at her ears as Katie lifted her rifle to try to get a clear shot of the zombies. It was hard to get a bead on any of them with the kids on the sputtering motorbike swerving back and forth in the foreground, both obviously panicking. The bike stalled and died just before the gate. The two scraggly teens slid off the motorcycle mere seconds before the zombies grabbed it. Together, they ran the few last feet toward the opening.

  The gate seemed to be taking forever to close. The kids sprinted through the now narrow gap in the gates, and a few people cheered. The zombies hit the gate and tried to push through the breach that was now wide enough for only one body to squeeze through at a time. Shots filled the air as people on the walls opened fire on the zombies still rushing down the road.

  “Juan!” Jenni ran across the bridge between the two walls.

  Katie followed, dodging some of the men scrambling into the fort.

  Jenni reached the top of the other wall and knelt. The first zombie was pushing through the gate. The last two men with Juan were now climbing the ladders. Jenni aimed and fired and the zombie’s head split open. The body fell and became lodged in the gates, keeping them from closing completely.